thatmikereed

A spring Saturday night in San Antonio could be fun, but one-way rental car fees could be high.

ringingup

Thanks. It wouldn’t need to be one way though.

chriswiles

I know Austin well. We have an LLC there. I'm back in Austin November 2!

Depends what you like? I'm not a massive San Antonio fan personally, but love Dallas. There's something about the place. Very functional, quite business-like, sort of reminds me of flying Club Suite. Hard to explain. I just seem to fit the vibe.

1 day though isn't long in Texas. It's huge. Just getting to places like Dallas or San Antonio is an effort. When I go Austin I'm usually there for at least 7-10 days as it takes a few days to adjust fully.

Austin is amazing, but changed so much. Driving around takes ages, it's so much busier than when we setup in 2016. Also, it's a bit like a 30-something Google campus in places and everyone seems to be either on the lake(s), drinking or down the gym. You wonder how and when they work sometimes!

dougzz

I first went to Texas in '84. Friend lived at the time in (I think) San Marcos, south of Austin. Austin was the most fabulous place, so vibrant and different. Now it feels like somewhere desperately trying to be different and ending up a sad version of what it used to be, maybe I'm unfair. I'd still visit Austin, its just not nearly as real and interesting as it once was, it's also now very expensive. San Antonio always felt a bit rubbish to me, maybe I'm just too hard on these place. In the 80's I think Dallas had to be the most disappointing place I'd been, given how I'd imagined it. It seemed to me simply a down town deserted outside office hours, and some suburbs where the people lived. I read an article in USA Today about trying to bring people back to down town, and how buildings had been converted to loft style apartments, and zoning used to get small cafes back. So I went back to Dallas in the 2000's and it had really improved, seemed to have areas where people went to bars and restaurants, and just seemed an entirely different place, definitely recommend it. I hope time hasn't eroded what Dallas had converted to as it seemed a decent city in the early to mid 00's. I think Austin suffered from tech money the way San Fran and surrounding has.

chriswiles

Sadly you're right. My neighbour who has a son who lived in Austin for 6 years and finally met him a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to know what he thought of Austin. His first reply "I wouldn't move back, the vibe has changed entirely". He didn't go into more detail beyond saying that peope are flocking there thinking it's the new best thing in the US and end up being a bit disappointed, plus bars and festivals always rammed as there's just too many people now.

My business partner lives out there and still loves it, although he's bound to say that as he's bought a place there and has his green card sorted, but I still get the impression he's slightly despondant how much it's changed. He started going in 2009 and has seen it change hugely since then - all the high rise buildings for one.

The traffic is the most disappointing. The I-35 was rammed most mornings, lots of crashes, too. Public transport is poor in Austin, bar the MetroRail system which goes from East Austin to Downtown and seems like a wasted opportunity for me. Should have forked to South Congress! Some of the US public transport decisions baffle me. Miami's light rail system is the same. Serves Downtown, but when they built the Design District, you'd think they'd have connected it? Nope.

I also agree re. San Antonio. It's one of those places people go on about, but you go and think "erm, ok, what to do here?". Dallas is sort of what I thought Austin would be like (bar less water/lakes!). It's also much quieter.

wakesetter93

On what planet is Dallas much quieter than Austin? I just moved from Dallas to Austin and it's a sleepy little town compared to Dallas

chriswiles

I'm not talking traffic or getting in/out the city. I meant being in the centre of Dallas during a working day. As it's very much a business centre, I found it to be very different during the day than Austin. Just more pleasant. Maybe doesn't help the I-35 goes right into Downtown in Austin. Dunno. I just preferred being in Dallas in the day.

Austin is strange. Packed on a morning and again around 4pm onwards. People seem to leave work early.

wakesetter93

Most of the non-business action in Dallas is in Uptown, that's where you'll find folks out and about. And having I-35 run right through downtown, on a poorly designed interstate at that, certainly adds to the traffic headache, whereas Dallas has multiple routes/loops to get you to and through the city. I-30 is still a nightmare though. I-45, I35E, 75, 175 and the DNT are all much better now that some of the major construction projects have been completed.

VictorSierra

We recently did a TX trip. 2 nights in Austin, 2 in SA and 4 in Dallas. Personally, two nights in SA was two too many. It’s a pretty little place, but there’s not a huge amount to do after hour 3 or 4, unless you hit up zoos or Six Flags. I’d recommend a day trip there from Austin.

Kgmm77

I agree with the recommendation to limit time in San Antonio. The Alamo is interesting, but the Boardwalk I thought was a little like a riverside version of Blackpool. Austin is a cool city and I’d second the recommendation above to see Texas Hill Country.

ringingup

So consensus is Hill Country over San Antonio for a 4 day visit? Can you easily go on day trips to Hill Country?

wakesetter93

From Austin or San Antonio, yes

ringingup

😭 not the weather I was expecting for my 4 days in Austin…

guv1976

It would be a lot worse if those temperatures were in Fahrenheit.

wakesetter93

Looks like good weather to me